In the early 1980s, as the AIDS crisis devastated communities and governments turned away, queer people were forced to fight not just for survival, but for dignity. In The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer’s searing and deeply human play, that fight takes centre stage.
“The Normal Heart is a celebration of raising one’s voice and fighting for causes you believe in.” – FUSE Magazine.
THIS INTERVIEW AT A GLANCE
- The Normal Heart tells the story of early AIDS activism in 1980s New York, centred on Ned Weeks.
- Mitchell Butel plays Ned and says the role was personally transformative when he first saw the play in 1989.
- He draws clear parallels between the government response to HIV/AIDS and the global response to COVID-19.
- The play explores tension between loud activism (ACT UP-style) and quieter diplomacy.
- Butel reflects on losing friends to AIDS and sees the production as both healing and educational.
- He believes theatre is a “gymnasium for empathy” — a space where audiences practise understanding others.
Love, Loss and Activism: Inside The Normal Heart
The Normal Heart follows Ned Weeks and his colleagues during the AIDS epidemic in New York in the early 1980s, as they fight for their freedom and protection.
Throughout history, the LGBTIQ+ community has fought to have the same rights afforded to others. The right to be seen as “normal”, to be treated with respect, and to have the freedom to love and survive.
The Normal Heart follows Ned Weeks and his colleagues during the AIDS epidemic in New York in the early 1980s, as they fight for their freedom and protection. It is a play about love, acceptance and survival.
We relished the opportunity to discuss The Normal Heart with Mitchell Butel, Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Sydney Theatre Company.
Hi, Mitchell, it’s nice to speak with you! Could you please give me an overview of The Normal Heart?
You bet. The Normal Heart is Larry Kramer’s Tony Award winning play about a community in the early days of the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York. It’s the story of the community itself, but primarily of Ned Weeks, who is based on Larry Kramer, who was an early AIDS activist.
It’s a love story, it’s a friendship story, and it’s a family story.
Ultimately, it’s a celebration of raising one’s voice and fighting for causes you believe in.
The Normal Heart — Photo by Neil Bennett
What drew you to The Normal Heart?
I saw the play in the Sydney Theatre Company in 1989, and it had premiered in New York in 1995. Larry Kramer, obviously now a huge queer icon, was someone I already knew about, and I had read his novel, Faggots, a couple of years before that. I was a young man questioning his own identity, and the play was super transformative for me.
It’s a play I always wanted to revive, and when we were coming out of COVID-19, it really interested me how different the worldwide response was to COVID than it had been to the HIV/AIDS crisis. It had been considered a gay disease.
The media and government response was much smaller than what it was to the straight pandemic. Having just lived through COVID, it was interesting to re-look at what it is, how important it is to educate and share information about infection and transmission of a plague.
I think now, it’s an interesting time to looking at the value of queer rights and queer civil liberties.
Great – and you play Ned Weeks?
That’s right. So, Ned is loosely based on Larry Kramer’s own journey. He was one of the co-founders of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), and as a result of his rather righteous and full-on tone and style, was ultimately kicked out of the group. He later co-founded the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), which was a more militant activist group that fought against government and media, in the hope of bringing about change and action in response to the crisis. He’s a great character to play, he’s pretty mouthy, pretty loud. He’s very funny too and has a great wit.
In the midst of this political crisis, many of his beliefs are questioned by falling in love with someone, and the person he falls in love with contracts HIV in the play. So the political and the person become very intertwined, very quickly.
The Normal Heart — Photo by Neil Bennett
The character he falls in love with is Felix, the beautiful heart of the production. He’s warm, gorgeous, open-hearted. So you’ve got this opinionated, kind of very angry guy, who falls in love with someone who has a different style and is closeted. They have different approaches to how they want to combat the disease. They argue about what’s the best way to fight for a cause.
Is it by being as open as possible or is through soft diplomacy? These questions still trouble us. How do we best achieve our goals? How do we best get our point across? Is it by slamming them on the table?
What do you think?
It’s a mix of having both. The play shows this notion of being able to achieve more as an out queer person. In terms of advocacy, pressure is a good thing, but taking your combatants on the journey with you is also important if you do want to enact change. So it’s an interesting dilemma.
Do you have a favourite line or moment in the play?
I love it all. I love the beginning, which begins in a nightclub. Dean Bryant has directed the production beautifully. I love the opening, but honestly, the writing is so good. It’s so smart, witty and full of heart. It’s a deep honour to be able to speak the words, because he writes with such eloquence. I feel smarter by the end of each evening. I hope people think I’m as smart as the character I’m playing.
How do you look after yourself while you’re playing this role?
I love working in the theatre, and it’s a great honour to be doing this. It gives me a great deal of joy, because it’s quite a big play. It goes for 2.5 hours and I don’t stop talking. So, I try to shut up in the mornings and not talk before 11am. Otherwise, I have no voice. So, there’s that, and keep hydrating. Like most things in life, as long as you keep hydrated, you can do anything.
How about the depth of the material? Does that weigh on you?
It does, yes, like many of us. I lost a few friends to AIDS in the late 80s and early 90s, and so, the memory of that is sad. Works like this are also healing. I get to honour the memory of people I had lost, or people I’d known. My great hope is that plays like can educate younger queer audiences about the history of the AIDS crisis, and the kind of action around it. I love being able to share parts of queer history with younger queer audiences. I love how, in the Sydney Theatre Company, we have many gay queer audience members, but a lot of our audience company as straight as well.
Being able to open a window into this particular world, for many audience members who are not from this world, is a deep honour and pleasure.
The Normal Heart — Photo by Neil Bennett
What conversations do you hope audiences are having in the foyer after the show?
Many of the ones I’ve had with people coming up to me afterwards, telling me how much they’d cried. Not that I like to see people upset, but it’s great to know that the play and production are moving people in that way. There’s a great American director, Bill T. Jones, who says the theatre is a gymnasium for our empathy.
It’s a place where we can practise what it is to be empathetic, to walk in someone’s shoes. We all know they’re actors, but there’s something different about everyone being in a space together, living a story together. The connective tissue is so beautiful. It is a real tool for healing and redemption, and for showing what it is to be human. It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of.
The Normal Heart returns to the stage — a fierce, heartbreaking and deeply human story of love and activism during the early AIDS crisis.
“A celebration of raising one’s voice and fighting for causes you believe in.” – FUSE Magazine.
Sydney Opera House
9 February – 14 March 2026
Drama Theatre
150 minutes, including interval
Suitable for mature ages
Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company’s 2026 Season is your chance to see some of Australia’s best theatre makers live and up close. Sydney Opera House’s Drama Theatre will play host to stage legends in four incredible plays, including an inspiring and provocative tribute to the AIDS crisis, a beguiling West End hit, an uproarious Aussie political satire, and a much-anticipated world premiere.
Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point, Sydney NSW 2000
